Always looking for interesting online content (and a place to capture it) I’ve been using the Pocket application since 2012. I even upgraded to the Premium version for around $5 a month which gives you some nice auto-tagging, searching, and archive functions.
I was actually preparing to return to the free version of Pocket because I wasn’t using the advanced features as much as I thought I would. I save the articles I want to keep long-term in Evernote so the archiving features were not a benefit. I’m still trying to adopt the whole tagging concept too so that was another feature that was wasted on me (I’m a Folder organizer, always have been)…
Then Instapaper decided to eliminate the cost of their Premium services… (Whoah, game changer right?)…
Well I had to at least try it out. I’ve seen the Instapaper icon as a “save for later” option all over the Internet for a while now.
I’ll have to admit I’m pretty impressed with how Instapaper works. It does a MUCH better job saving articles in their original format than Pocket did and it beats Evernote hands down with inline videos and graphics.
Other features include “Speed Reading” where each word flashes on the screen at a speed you select. It’s a little awkward at first and causes me to read out loud, for some reason, but it does what it’s supposed to.
Another option I just discovered allows you to tilt your phone to auto-scroll the article you’re reading. The more you tilt the faster the scrolling rate. It takes a little bit to get used to but works great when you’re sitting in your favorite chair relaxing.
If you’re a fan of offline archiving/reading of online content you should really check out Instapaper. You can even import your Pocket library into Instapaper and not miss a beat. It’s a really solid product and you can’t beat the price!
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below…
